Decoy tethering device



C. ESAU DECOY TETHERIN G' DEVICE March 12,1935.

Filed March 20, 1953 Patented Mar. 12, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT 'OFFICE DECOY TETHERING DEVICE Charles Esau, Chicago, Ill. Application March 20, 1933, Serial No. 661,725

4 Claims. (Cl. 119-428) Many devices have been proposed, and some of while serving as a hinge pin or pintle that permits them used to a certain extent, for the purpose of the opposite ends ofthe half rings to be swung tetheringdecoy ducks .or geese; but I know of from and toward each other. 'When the free ends none that has been wholly satisfactory, whereas of the two half rings or'sections are brought to- -.5. some of them have been practically devices of torgether and a pin is inserted in the registering 51 ture. openings therein, the half rings or sectionsare The object of the present invention is to prolocked together to produce a rigid continuous duce a simple and novel tethering device which ring. The locking pin that .I employ is prefercan be worn on the leg of a duck or other fowl ably=made of wire and comprisesthe pin proper l without discomfort, which will not interfere with 5, one end of which may be bent back upon itself the normal movements and actions of the wearer, into the form of a hook 6, after the pin proper in and which cannot become distorted, in use, so a straight condition has been inserted. The wire as to injure the wearer or make it uncomfortable. at the opposite end of the body portion of. the

A further object of the present invention is to lcckihg pin .is continued beyond the ring and is produce a simple and novel tethering device bent into the form of a loop'or eye 7 lying direct- 15 which shall be efficient in operation, which may ly'outwardly from the ring beside the periphery; be worn by a duck or other fowl while acting the loop or eye lying preferably in a plane that as a decoy or throughout an entire hunting season contains the long axis o the Furthermore, without causing suffering or even annoyance to. the loop or eye preferably has a diameter about as the wearer, and which may be quickly and easily great as the axial length of the ring, or perhaps 20 applied and removed. somewhat greater, and it is so disposed that the The various features of novelty whereby my incenter thereof lies approximately in the transvention is characterized will hereinafter be pointverse plane containing the meeting faces of the eel out with particularity in the claims; but, for a ears that form the lap J' A line cord is full understanding of my invention and of its attached to the ring y being passed through the 25 objects and advantages, reference may be had to loop or eye and, by locating this loop or eye as the following detailed description taken in con- I have done, the pull of the line will not tend to nection with the accompanying drawing, wheret l? 0 Clamp the ring 011 the l of the w e in: while the line is parallel with the plane of the Figure 1 is a top plan viewof a device embodyr Thi s tr Whether the line he passed 30 ing the present invention; Fig. 2 is a section, on a through the loop or eye, or whether it be attached larger scale, on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a secto the latter by means O a p hooktion taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a sec- In r r to apply the ring to h leg of a k tion on line 4-4 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a perspective or th r f wl, the. w h v s are mply swung view of one of the half rings; and Fig. 6 is an apart, the leg is inserted between them, and the 35 elevation of the cushioning sleeve or lining. two halves are then swung together and the Referring to the drawing, 1, 1 represent two locking pin is inserted. The free end of the half rings which are alike and interchangeable, locking pin is then bent up by means of a pair A portion is cut away from each end of each of pliers or otherwise, and the ring thereby behalf ring to a depth extending from one end face comes positively looked upon the leg. When it 40 halfway to the other end face, thereby producing is desired to remove the ring, all that it is necat each end of each half ring an ear 2. The exessary to do is to straighten out the bent end cisions are made from opposite faces, so that of the locking pin and pull the pin out. one ear is at one end face of the ring and the The ring is preferably made of aluminumso other ear at the opposite end face. When the that it will be light in weight even though it is 45 two halves of the ring are placed together, the made thick enough and long enough to be quite meeting ears form lap joints. The ears are persturdy and rigid. Since the ring is rigid and forated, as indicated at 3, in directions parallel strong, it cannot easily be deformed so as to with the axis of the ring; the perforations in overexert a clamping action on the leg of the duck lapping ears, when the two halves of the ring or the like and, since it is made of a body of 50 are assembled, registering with each other. A considerable cross-sectional area, the corners hinge pin 4 extends through the registering openmay be effectively rounded so as to leave no sharp ings or perforations at one of the joints; the corners that can dig or cut into the skin. I preends of this hinge pin being riveted over or otherfer, however, still further to reduce the likelihood wise fashioned so as to keep the pin in place that the wearing of the ring will cause injury or 55 even discomfort or annoyance to the duck, and I therefore preferably face the parts of the ring that can come in contact with the leg with a suitable cushioning material. Soft rubber serves very well as a cushioning material for this purpose, and it permits the facing or lining to be embodied in a form that will make the facings or linings readily replaceable. In the arrangement shown, the cushioning device is in the form of a sleeve 8 of soft rubber having at the ends flanges 9. The body portion of the sleeve fits within the ring and it is of the same length as the axial length of th ring so that the flanges overlie and engage with the two end faces of the ring. The rubber sleeve is preferably divided lengthwise along one side, the dividing line being indicated at 10 in Fig. 6; whereby the meeting ends may be spread apart when the ring is opened to permit the entry of a leg into or the removal of a leg from the device. If the flanges of the rubber sleeve are made wide enough to cover the end faces of the ring, a notch 11 may be cut into the edge of each of the flanges, one directly above the other, to enable the flanges to clear the locking pin. If these notches are placed at the line of division inthe sleeve, the locking pin will serve to hold the sleeve against turning so that, in case the ring is opened, the sleeve may also be opened, with the gap in the sleeve registering with that in the ring.

The hinge pin and the locking pin are preferably made of brass or other rustproof material.

While I have illustrated and described with particularity only a single preferred form of my invention, I do not desire to be limited to the exact structural details thus illustrated and described; but int-end to cover all forms and arrangements which come within the definitions of my invention constituting the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A device of the character described, comprising a rigid ring composed of sections, and means including a hinge pin and a Wire locking pin securing said sections together, said locking pin extending through the free ends of said sections, the wire at one end of said locking pin extending in a loop or eye beside the periphery of the ring.

2. A device of the character described, comprising a rigid ring composed of two like interchangeable sections, and means including a hinge pin and a locking pin securing said sections together, one end of said locking pin terminating in an eye lying beside the periphery of the ring in a plane at right angles to the plane of the ring.

3. A device of the character described, comprising two similar interchangeable rigid aluminum half rings shaped at the ends to form lap joints, a hinge pin extending through one of the joints and permanently secured to the ring, a second pin of bendable material extending through the other joint, one end of said second pin being in the form of an eye lying beside the periphery of the ring, and the other end of said second pin being bent back upon itself across the periphery of the ring.

4. A device of the character described, comprising two similar interchangeable rigid aluminum half rings shaped at the ends to form lap ioints, a hinge pin extending through one of the joints and permanently secured to the ring, a second pin of bendable material extending through the other joint, one end of said second pin being in the form of an eye lying beside the periphery'of the ring, the other end of said second pin being bent back upon itself across the periphery of the ring, and a divided sleeve of soft rubber fitting Within said ring and having flanges overlapping both end faces of the latter.

CHARLES ESAU. 

